Tightening Monetary Policy and Risk Management Considerations

Interest rates have increased significantly, and risk assets including equities and corporate bonds have materially underperformed on a year-to-date basis, as the market narrative regarding moderating inflation metrics in the second half of 2022 is challenged. Contributing factors to the underperformance of risk assets include escalating geopolitical conflicts as well as lingering COVID restrictions in China, exacerbating supply chain issues which have been in place since the onset of the pandemic. A theme for the Chandler team at the beginning of 2022 was markets were at an inflection point with policy accommodation poised to pivot via tightening monetary policy and the impact of prior fiscal stimulus waning. At the outset of 2022, expectations for monetary policy tightening were modest, however, as inflation metrics remained elevated the Federal Reserve turned more hawkish, with the Fed Funds rate increasing by 1.50% thus far in 2022, including 25 basis points in March, 50 basis points in May, and 75 basis points in June.

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